How will Trump be impeached? And I say ‘will’ as, if he doesn’t resign, it’s definitely going to happen

How will Trump be impeached?

Since Donald Trump became President of the United States, I’ve said to anyone that will listen it is only a matter of time before he is impeached. After all, not only is he as dumb as dirt and clinically insane, but he has gotten himself into some pretty shady things — including likely colluding with the Russians to win the election.

Now, just four months after Trump took office, and a disastrous four months by anyone’s reckoning, his impeachment is looking more probable by the day. Especially after Trump fired FBI director James Comey last week. A man who was leading an FBI investigation into Trump’s involvement with the Russians.

Due to that firing, and to intense public pressure to do so, a special prosecutor was appointed yesterday. He will look into, among other things, the cyber attacks on the Democratic Party that U.S. intelligence officials say the Russian government perpetrated last year to help Trump’s win the presidency.

So how will Trump be impeached? How does an impeachment of a sitting president actually work?

This excellent Rolling Stone video will tell you.

What will happen when Trump is impeached?

The first thing you need to understand is impeachment is not the actual removal of a U.S. president. Instead, what an impeachment is is the first step in a multi-step process.

First, the House Judiciary Committee must recommend impeachment.

Then the House of Representatives vote to decide if impeachment is necessary. If there is a simple majority win in the House, then the impeachment is passed on to the Senate where a trial will take place.

After the trial has been held in the Senate, a two thirds majority is required for a president to be convicted. If that two thirds majority happens, the president is impeached.

What many people do not know, however, is that even an impeachment does not remove a president from office. That happens when the president faces the possibility of conviction via legislative vote. If the vote wins, he is then removed from office.

As of this date, no U.S. president has been impeached (both Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were acquitted of all charges). Which is why Donald Trump will be the first impeached U.S. president in history. If he doesn’t resign first.

What can a president be impeached for?

According to the U.S. Constitution, there are several crimes a president can be impeached for.

“The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

So has Trump committed treason?

Not in the technical definition of the word. Under “high crimes and misdemeanors”, however, he is well and truly f*cked.

That’s because broad definition of the term means “anything Congress thinks is unacceptable”, and with public opinion lining up against Trump to such an extent, it is only a matter of time before Congress has no choice but to impeach him.

Plus, when you look at Richard Nixon, (who wasn’t actually impeached, because he resigned first), the way Trump’s story is going, it is on the exact same trajectory.

Especially as the final nail in Nixon’s coffin was him stating the FBI should be forced to back off their investigation of his ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ and, thus, attempting to instigate a cover up of his crimes.

Trump went one step worse by actually firing the FBI director. A definite attempted cover up of his crimes, and the ‘smoking gun’ that forced a special prosecutor to be appointed this week to investigate him.

Of course, Trump, being the coward he is, will likely resign before he is impeached. Just as Nixon did.

Either way, though, it’s looking as though we are not likely to have Trump in office in the White House for that much longer.

Hallelujah.

Now watch the Rolling Stone video for the complete explanation of what will happen when Trump is impeached. It’s succinct and easy to understand. Thanks, Rolling Stone!